RESIDENTS of a deprived Worcester estate are thrilled at a £500,000 revamp for their popular community centre.

Tolladine Centre, which is part of Christchurch, in Rowan Avenue, is said to be "bursting at the seams".

A new crche, caf and youth club have all been included in the planned refurbishment for the community whose local vicar said has felt let down by empty promises through the years.

Residents and community leaders have been raising money for the vital renovation and extension work for more than five years.

But the pot of funds recently received a huge boost from the Government-funded Sure Start scheme, which has committed a minimum of £293,000 to the project.

Local businesses and individuals have dug deep to make donations totalling more than £86,000.

And charities, including the Church Urban Fund, the Worcester Municipal Hopmarket fund, the Cadbury Trust and the Bernard Sunley Foundation, have also contributed.

The vicar of Tolladine, Rev Dr Jeni Parsons, said the charities would hold further fund-raising events and approach businesses to reach the £500,000 mark.

She said the centre was well used by all sorts of community groups.

But they were crammed into a very small and run-down space.

"We are bursting at the seams," she said.

"At the moment, everybody does everything in a small space.

"The new building will give us the room to breathe and also to expand on the existing activities."

But she said backing for the improvements had been a long time coming.

"People in Tolladine feel they have been promised things for years that have never materialised.

"The backing this project now has means that at last someone has realised that they need to ask the people of Tolladine what they want and work with them to produce it," she said.

Mrs Parsons hopes the community centre facelift is the start of further regeneration work on the estate.

"I don't see it as an end, but as a sign of the area moving in new directions," she said.

With a substantial chunk of the £500,000 needed to fund the project in place and the backing of the city council's cabinet, work could start as early as July.

But first it has to meet the approval of the council's planning committee, which will discuss the plans tomorrow.